The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1887-07-21


reign is love, and whose courts are paved
with love, and whose throne is set on
pillars Of love, and whose scepter is
adorned with jewels Of love, and whose
lifetime is an eternity of love- When Paul
was leaving SO much on this side the pillar
of martyrdom to gain so much on the other
side, do you wonder at the cheerful vale-
dictory Of the text, @The time of my, de-
parture is at hand?"
Now, why cannot all the old people Of
this congregation have the same holy glee
as that az d man hadP Charles l., when he
was combing his head, found a gray hair,
and he sent it to the queen as a great joke,
but old age is really no joke at all. For
the last forty years you have been dreading
that which ought to have been an exhilara-
ton. You say you most fear the struggle
at the moment the soul and body part. But
millions have endured that moment, and
why not we as we'll! They got through
with it, and so can we. Besides this, all
medical men agree in saying that there is
probably no struggle at all at the last mo-
ment-not so much pain as the prick of a
pin, the seeming signs of distress being
altogether involuntary. But you say: ut
is the uncertainty of the future" Now,
child of God, do not play the infidel. After
God has filled the Bible till it can hold no
more with the stories of the good things
ahead, better not talk about uncertainties.
But you say, II cannot bear to think Of
parting from friends here" If you are
old you have more friends in Heaven than
here Jnst take The censns Toke somo
large sheet of paper and begin to record
the names of those who have emigrated to
the other shore; the companions of your
school dovs. vour ear,y business nssociates.
the friends Of mid lifeond those who more
recently wen; away. Can it be that they
have been gone so long YOU do not care
any more about them and YOU do not want
their society? Oh, no! There have been
days when YOU huve felt that YOU could
not endure il another moment away from
their blessed compnnionship. They have
gone. You say YOU would not like to bring
them back to this world of trouble, even if
you had the power. 1t would not do to
trust YOU. God would not give you resur-
rection power. Before to- morrow morning
YOU would be rafting at the gates of the
cemetery. crviny 10 the departed: "Come
back to the cradle where you slept! Come
back to the hall where YOU used to play!
Come back 10 the table where YOU used to
sit" and there would be a great burglary
in Heaven. No, no! God will not trust
you with resurrection power, but he COM
promises the matter and says: "You
cannot bring them where you are. but you
can 90 where they are" They are more
lovely now than ever. We're thew were
beautiful here they are more beautiful
there,
Besides that, it is more healthy there
for you than here, aged man; better climate
there than these hot summers and cold
winters and late springs; better hearing:
better oye sight; moro tonic in the air
more perfume in the bloom; more sweet.
ness in the song. Do you not feel, aged
man, sometimes, as though YOU would like
10 get your arm and foot freep Do YOU noA
feel as though YOU would like to throw away
spectncles and canes and crutchesP Would
you not like to feel the spring and elastic
ity and mirth of au eternal boyhoodO
When the point at which YOU start from
this world ia old age, and tho point 10
which you 90 is eternal iuvenes escence, aged
men, clap your hands at the anticipation,
and say, in perfect rapture Of soul: "ThO
time Of my departure is at hand"
I remark, again, all those ought to feel
this Joy of the text who have o holy curl.
osity to know what is beyond this earthly
terminus. And who has not any curiosity
about il? Paul, suppose, had the most
satisfactory view of Heaven, and he SAYS:
III uOt0 not VeI RnD0hf MnAk Wo BNhll D6s
It is like looking through q broken tele-
scope: snow We SOC through . glass
darkly." Can you tell me anything about
that heavenly plaoe2 You ask me Q thou.
sand questions about II that I CannOt
answer. And do you wonder that PAU
was 90 glad when martyrdom gave him q
chance 70 90 over and mako discoveries in
that blessed countrv2
Ihopo some dnv. bV The Rraes of God.
to 90 over and see for myself; but not now.
No we'll man. NO prospered man. l think.
wants 10 90 now. But tho time will coma,
think when I shail 90 over. want a
ase what tbev do there. and want 10 Soc
how they do il. / do not want 70 be look
ing through the Cates aiar forever. want
them to swing open. Thero arc 10,OOC
things want eXplainod-about you, about
myself. about the government Of ehia
world, about God, about everything. We
start in plain path of what we know, and
in O minute come up against high wall Of
what we do not know. / wonder how il
looks over there. Somebody tells me it is
like paved city-paved with gold; and
another man tells me 1t is like fountain,
and it is like tree, and it is like tri-
umphnl procession, and the next man
meet tells me it is all fgurative. really
want to know after the body is resurrected,
what they wear and what they eat; and
have an immeasurable curiosity to know
what it is, and how it is, and where it is,
Columbus risked his life to ind this conti-
nent, and shall we shudder to 90 out on 9
voyage of discovery which shall reveal 6
vaster and more different countryP Johr
Franklin risked his life to find passage
between icebergs and shall we dread to fine
q passage TO eternal summer Men il
Switzerland travel up the heights of the
Matterhorn with alpenstock and guides
and rockets and ropes, and getting hall
way up, stumble and fall down in a horri-
BILE massacre. They Just want to say they
had been on the tops of those high peaks
And shall We fear to so out for the ascent
of the eternal hills, which start thou